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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: row · race · capital · chip · wound · track · straw · swing

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. swing — music
  3. wound — an injury
  4. race — humankind
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. race — the arms race
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. track — a song
  10. wound — an injury
  11. swing — in golf
  12. chip — for betting
  13. track — to keep track
  14. track — a path
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. swing — to play on
  18. row — to paddle
  19. capital — money
  20. capital — a city
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. race — a contest
  23. chip — to eat
  24. row — a line

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com